Skip to content

Pelham Town Council updates strategic planning, priorities

Lengthy to-do list established for second half of term On Monday, Sept. 28, Pelham Town Council and senior staff conducted a marathon three-hour-plus virtual meeting to discuss priorities and determine updates to the municipality’s strategic plan.

Lengthy to-do list established for second half of term

On Monday, Sept. 28, Pelham Town Council and senior staff conducted a marathon three-hour-plus virtual meeting to discuss priorities and determine updates to the municipality’s strategic plan. All councillors were present except for Ward 2 Councillor Ron Kore, who was also absent for council’s 2021 budget planning meeting, held the week of Sept. 21. Kore did not respond a Voice request for comment regarding his absences.

Completed initiatives were removed from the list, including invasive species policy and plan, sign bylaw, future of Pelham transit, bylaws for cannabis, a collective bargaining agreement, whistleblower protection, short term rental policy, traffic calming and safety measures, the review and expansion of the Administrative Monetary Penalty System, voice activation for customer service, and the re-establishment of the Heritage Advisory Committee.

One point of contention arose when Councillor Lisa Haun objected to the removal of “Proactive Communications Protocol” from staff’s to-do list, essentially arguing that her original request for guidance during council’s first strategic planning session, at the end of February, had not been adequately addressed. What was less clear was what there was to address.

Haun cited the example of a resident emailing all council members with a concern, and contended that there was no way to know whether other councillors had answered the resident. Haun said she was concerned that the Town wasn’t following “best practices” in such an instance, though she did not specify what these may be.

Mayor Marv Junkin replied first, saying that when a resident included him on an email to multiple councillors or staff, he simply hit “reply all,” sending his answer to the resident as well as to the rest of the recipients of the resident’s email, thereby keeping everyone informed.

CAO David Cribbs responded that he thought Town staff had learned what council expected when it came to addressing resident complaints.

“I think it’s been about five months—four to six—since my office has received what I would describe as a complaint or a note of dissatisfaction from any of you with respect to specifically how we’ve been handling complaints from the public,” said Cribbs.

The CAO noted that over the summer, Councillors Wink and Kore received more complaints than usual—presumably relating to concerns over Town trees in Ward 2—and that staff had responded in a timely manner.

“We’ve certainly got our response time down dramatically,” said Cribbs, “and it’s unfortunate that Councillor Kore isn’t here this evening, because I think he could comment on that, but Councillor Wink can.”

Cribbs suggested that investing in new communications technology for seven individuals—the Mayor and six councillors—was unrealistic given the municipality’s relatively small size. He also maintained that over the last several months staff had been diligent in informing councillors when resident complaints were answered and resolved.

“I feel we may have been successful for the past half year or so. It’s been difficult under COVID. Resident complaints, I feel, have gone up significantly. I think that’s because a lot more people are at home during the day, for longer periods of time, and I think we’ve made real headway there.”

It’s been difficult under COVID. Resident complaints, I feel, have gone up significantly.

Nevertheless, Cribbs noted that the priority list was council’s to decide. No other councillors spoke up before the vote was taken to declare the protocol dealt with. Councillors Stewart, Wink, and Mayor Junkin voted to remove it as a priority. Councillors Olson, Hildebrandt, and Haun voted to keep it. Since tie votes result in a motion failing, the nebulous concern remained on the priority list.

Council reviewed remaining strategic priorities, added others, and re-ranked them given the current pandemic-dominated landscape. The order of importance was clustered, as opposed to a specific order for completion—for example, each of the items 1 through 5, and 6 through 10, and so on, are of equal importance in that group.

In Group 21-25, the term “benefits for councillors” appears, which Councillor Bob Hildebrandt addressed around the 80-minute point in the meeting, but only regarding where to rank it, not what it meant. Asked over the weekend what benefits he had in mind, or how the term was being defined as a strategic priority, Hildebrandt punted to the CAO, despite the item being Hildebrandt's own.

Cribbs responded that staff have interpreted the item as a request to review the approach that the municipality takes regarding the role of its elected officials and how they are compensated.

“Should elected officials be appointed to committees for limited periods of time?” said Cribbs. “Should they rotate so as to gain broader knowledge, or stay specialized so as to offer and develop expertise? What are the benefits of councillor participation on committees, and should councillor compensation be adjusted to reflect hours spent on committees, or otherwise?”

Cribbs said that staff would produce a report on these questions, “but likely not until well into next year.”

The new priorities outlined by council are:

Group 1-5

New zoning bylaw Future of the library Parking initiatives and Master Plan and MCC parking strategy Complete illumination bylaw Bylaw enforcement policy

Group 6-10

Options for Urban Tree Canopy Enhance Public Service Request (PSR) system and “Proactive Communication” tool Energy efficiency and green energy; electric vehicle charging stations; solar energy; LED conversion Join Lincoln- St. Catharines tourism partnership Town club policy and agreements

Group 11-15

Succession plan Parks and Recreation review Plan for Public Works operations Staff report on Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) for Fenwick, Fonthill, Ridgeville Delegation of authority bylaw

Group 16-20

Community Improvement Plan Update purchasing policy; changes regarding purchasing/procurement Joint initiatives— purchasing, building, drainage, legal New procedural bylaw Future urban lands needs analysis

Group 21-25

Terms of reference for committees and board; benefits for councillors Climate change, best practice; community education Compensation/performance management and staff recognition Capital asset management plan Future urban land needs analysis

Group 26-27

East Fenwick Secondary Plan Improve search engine on Town website

Asked for his impressions after the session, Mayor Junkin told the Voice that he thought that council, along with staff, had “much to be proud of by way of accomplishments” for their first two years in office, a sentiment he also expressed at the start of the meeting.

“Such items as restructuring the matrix of the MCC, the finalization of a short-term rental bylaw, numerous changes in the financial running of the Town, capped off with the work of the Cannabis Control Committee, will allow this Town to move into the future better prepared,” said Junkin. “I believe we set reachable goals for Town staff to achieve on our behalf.”

CAO David Cribbs sounded a similarly positive note, characterizing the session as productive, producing realistically accomplishable goals for the coming two years.

“Equally important [the list] contains balance between corporate and community priorities, and also reflects the many different aspects of life in Pelham,” said Cribbs.

“For example, there are some clear environmental initiatives, an illumination bylaw, an enforcement policy to address community irritants, and some financial items to hopefully assist with economic recovery.”

It was one of the most efficient strategic planning sessions that I have ever been a part of

Cribbs added that no matter where they live, all residents of Pelham “have some interest in new policy that affects the urban tree canopy and having a new master parking strategy... staff are grateful to have the opportunity to work such items as succession planning, a delegation of authority bylaw and asset management.”

Newly elected Ward 1 Councillor Wayne Olson said that the event was well organized and that a lot of ground was covered in a relatively short period of time.

“It was one of the most efficient strategic planning sessions that I have ever been a part of,” said Olson, who added that getting command of Town debt was his first priority.

“[I was] very impressed with the cooperative approach and appreciative of the contributions of staff and council. Committees of council have done some really great work. There is a strong sense...that complex problems require complex solutions like partnerships. Everybody is realistic and conscious of the financial imperatives, and willing to look at creative low-cost additions to make our town more livable for everyone.”

No other councillor acknowledged the Voice’s request for comment.

 

While you’re here…consider renewing or taking out a Voice Membership to express your support for local journalism.